Why did Charlotte Center City Partners help send out a press release touting Wednesday’s Save the Tax press conference?
CCP is a non-profit that receives substantial funding — $1.89 million in fiscal 2008 — directly from the city of Charlotte. Communications director Moria Quinn forwarded the Save the Tax release to an unknown email list of recipients last Friday morning with the notation, “Making sure you all saw this.” Quinn used her centercity.org address for the mailing.
Sure, everyone in and around city government understands CCP’s purpose — it is the official Uptown cheerleader explicitly created and funded in order to promote Uptown. As such, it receives revenue from the Uptown municipal service districts — essentially additional property tax payments made by Uptown property owners. That forms about 75 percent of Center City’s budget.
Fine.
But the MSDs are not supposed to be political slush funds to help mount propaganda campaigns directed at local residents and taxpayers. Yet that is what they were this week.
Makes you wonder if the pro-tax side is really so confident about raising money to try to save the tax if they have to immediately turn to a publicly-supported ally for help.
Update: The Board of Directors of Center City Partners has passed a resolution in support of the half-cent tax, urging voters to vote to keep the tax.
Oh, it’s on now.
